New York Mets: Pretenders or Contenders?

As many new faces arrive in Port St. Lucie, Florida for Mets spring training camp, all eyes are focused on arguably the most important man in the organization, who will not see an inning of playing time all season, the new General Manager, Brodie Van Wagenen.

Since being named GM back in October, Van Wagenen has not hesitated in making an impact since being placed in his throne; his biggest move being trading for Edwin Diaz, who is arguably the top closer in all of baseball and Robinson Cano, a reliable middle of the order .300 hitter.

Although this move exponentially strengthened the team, this was only the beginning of Van Wagenen’s spending spree. To the unanimous liking of Mets fans, Jeurys Familia was signed to a three-year contract, giving the bullpen a lethal eighth and ninth inning combination of Familia as the setup man and Diaz as the closer.

Van Wagenen had Mets fans on edge during the annual winter meetings where he expressed significant interest in the at the time Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto, only 27 years old, was undoubtedly the league’s premier catcher in 2018 and had an outrageously high asking price this offseason. The Mets were not going to acquire him unless they gave up top name players such as Noah Syndergaard, Michael Conforto, or Brandon Nimmo.

Van Wagenen opted with the wise decision of passing up on Realmuto and instead signing free agent Wilson Ramos to a two-year contract. Ramos, 31 years old and coming off the best season of his career, slashing a .306 line, will add a much-needed spark of power to the Mets’ lineup.

To put the finishing touches on an already revamped New York Mets team, the team signed Jed Lowrie last month, a second basemen by nature who is likely to see most of his playing time at third base this season due to the All-Star in Cano who, (rightfully so) is not compelled to move from his home at second base. Lowrie, who made his first All-Star appearance last season, will act as yet another consistent bat for the Mets with a high on base percentage and a sure glove in the field.

The Mets have committed themselves to win now mode as they dumped many of their top prospects in the Seattle trade such as two first round draft picks Justin Dunn and Jarred Kelenic. As the distant future for the Mets may have taken a slight hit, the current status of the team looks as good ever.

Van Wagenen has done a very impressive job working under the notoriously stingy owners in the Wilpons and has instilled legitimate hope for fans for the first time in years. With all the moves the Mets have already made, depending on how they progress through the first half of the season it would only make sense to add another superstar at the trade deadline to make a legitimate push for their first World Series championship in over 30 years.